scottish bushcraft show

[Toddy]

Google maps....Edinburgh to Drumlanrig


62.7 mi, 1 hour 45 mins
A702
88.3 mi, 1 hour 56 mins
M8 and M74
69.8 mi, 1 hour 58 mins
A70

and I drive like a bat out of hell

cheers,
Toddy

 

[21st century pict]

hi
does anyone know why there isn't a Scottish bush craft show or am i missing it what if Scotland gets independence will we have our own show then
anyone on site who can get one off and running it would save us all going down to derby england irate:

Before or after Independence, and even with some legends like John “LOFTY" Wiseman headlining the show, personally I would love to go to see and listen to tracking expert David Scott Donelan but Derby is just way too far for me anyway, somewhere around central Scotland would seem to be the fairest option travel wise for everyone.

AYE 18\9\2014

 

[Toddy]

Oi ! Both of ye ! Nae politics on the forum

Toddy

 

[Barn Owl]

Tbh, if we were to do a bushcraft stint at the country fair then it'd have to have something ongoing all day.
If you don't then folks will see inactivity and think 'hmm,nothing of interest for me here'.
Now that's a lot of work to keep things on the go, i'd love it as i go to the fair every year and used to have the kids down there regularly foreby but putting the practical head on,we'd need several volunteers.

If i'm not driving, you'll find me in the beer tent with a black galloway or very similar.

 

[21st century pict]

Scotland only makes up 8.4% of the uk population, so perhaps joining on to a game fair or something similar like say the Scottish Outdoor Exhibition at the AECC in Aberdeen or An Fheis Mhór Scotlsnd festival of paddedsport in October could be a more viable option.

 

[treetop57]

Scotland only makes up 8.4% of the uk population, so perhaps joining on to a game fair or something similar like say the Scottish Outdoor Exhibition at the AECC in Aberdeen or An Fheis Mhór Scotlsnd festival of paddedsport in October could be a more viable option.

8.4% of 55 million is urrrrrrrr/urrrrrrr alot i say again if Drumlanrig event manager wants to put on a bushcraft show then i say let them and then every one has a choice go to or not but it's got to be better then having to go to england and on that note i think this thread end as all there seems posted is negative can't be done well lets wait and see

 

[Toddy]

No it's not; it's a discussion.

I went to the first bushcraft show at Windermere. They didn't get enough paying punters, and that was with all the scouts there too.

If Drumlanrig's up for it, good on them but if they're expecting thousands of bushcrafters to turn up, that's a forlorn hope.
There just aren't that many of us.
If they tie it in with something else, and they get MOP's along too though, then that should hopefully keep the traders happy.

However; I was down in Galloway last month, and speaking to someone who does the same kind of public demo stuff that I do. He said, and I quote, "We had a really good weekend, we had nearly 800 people there over the weekend", and I thought (and mind I work in the central belt) 8000 is more usual. If it's a city show over 20,000 in two short weekend days is a bit light, and some, if the weather gods smile on us, easily double that and more. One show pulls in over 100,000 visitors
Galloway just doesn't have the population density to make it worth while for major traders outside of the farming / tourist kind or very local ones.
It's a beautiful bit of the world, with some absolutely wonderful resources, but every tourist site is chasing money. Bushcrafters buy kit, but they really, really, watch the pennies.
Dumfries and Galloway needs to pull in visitors, but the distance is agin them.

Would I come down ? Yes, if there's suitable camping. Would the folks from Fife, Perthshire, Aberdeenshire, Grampian ? ehm, maybe, maybe no'. Depends what's on offer I suspect.

Going to the English one (they 'might' have taken the Scottish Bushcraft Show name as a copyright, I don't know, but if it were me I'd check before printing or pushing anything) is straight down the motorway for four and a half hours. It's a major three day event though.

Don't throw the Scottish card at me; my patriotism is not in question, but I do understand event management, and I do understand the financial realities of trying to get enough paying 'guests' on site and how tight margins can be to provide facilities that people expect since they're paying for it.

Many of us have contacts among not only the bushcrafters and crafts folks but among the reenactors too. Most of us would be happy to help pass on details.
There is one other issue; the shows are already timetabled into folks calenders. Traders try to organise at least a year ahead in deciding which shows to attend. If the event clashes with another one, then the potential number of visitors halves before you open the doors. Timing is crucial.

Personally I would love to see a Scottish show I think it would be brilliant if it got off the ground to a great start
Happy to wait and see.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[21st century pict]

8.4% of 55 million is urrrrrrrr/urrrrrrr alot

Yea , but we don't all live in the Edinburgh Glasgow catchment area , that's a 650 mile round trip from Thurso.
But hey, good luck to him all the same, but central Scotland still gets my vote.

 

[Barn Owl]

It's not being negative treetop,like Toddy says there's a lot of organisation for a big event and as i commented, it takes a fair bit of endeavour to man a 'supplement' to a main show.
That's why we have our wee informal get togethers labelled 'bushcraft sharing skills', it allows for down time or others to take on the teaching.
The 'public' attending a show are more inclined to want to see and be entertained by something ongoing as they pass the stall.
I'd love it to happen but we'd need a few skilled practitioners to be on hand.

 

[Nomad]

Speaking as a punter just west of Edinburgh, I could get to the Drumlanrig area fairly readily. It's a bit of a drive for a day out, but fine if I was camping. However, I've never been to a bushcraft show and have little idea of what goes on at one, so I'd probably only want to go for a day to see what happens - and I'm not sure I'd go that far for a day.

If it was more central, like Stirling for example, I would go for a day's look-see. (Aberfoyle is lovely, but it's a slow, twisty drive from the main trunk routes - I'd be happy to go there, but not sure about others.)

As for traders and buying gear, I don't especially need much, so I'd be more likely to just browse around than actually spend money. Might buy some leatherworking tools and materials, and I'd probably buy a pair of broon boots if Altberg were there, but that's about it. If there were some 'try a skill' workshops, that would be more interesting and more likely to get me to turn up (always fancied a go at smithing, even though I have nowhere to set up a forge).

 

[belzeebob23]

Hi all
Been watching this thread with interest. Oh I would be there in a shot if it was to happen.
To be brutally honest, Scotland dose not have the population density even in the central belt for traders to justify the expense of coming up here to attend.
The smaller skill sharing weekends, which members have organized have been excellent, but if you ask those members it dose take a lot of time to organize with little in return except for the gratitude of the members, the joy of sharing there skills with like minded people and visitors who happen across us in the woods.

I know the thought of an 8 hour plus drive each way from Glasgow is putting myself off going to the Moot, which doesn't mean that I wouldn't attend in the future.
Bob

 

[JohnC]

I wonder if there is anywhere in the Borders region that would be a potential spot?

 

[Goatboy]

Been watching this with Belzeebob and agree that population density and interest is something of a problem. Would either have to start somewhere relatively central and small and try to grow the business or attach it onto something existing with a known draw and shared/crossover interests.
For the former somewhere with sxcellent facilities and existing ties with bushcrafters like Toddy's suggestion of Comrie Croft would be excellent. Central Scotland, ease of access, camping for glampers, tenters and tree swingers alike, mixed ground to try stuff in, facilities for traders and a matching ethos.
If you went for the latter then maybe an extension of the Scone Gamefair or Highland Show at Ingliston. Though onsite camping me pose problems at those venues. Traders would have crossover sales to make it fiscally viable and it would generate a mass of existing folk for the other things to feed off of.

 

[Toddy]

Reenactor events, like the sadly missed Lanark History Fayre, manage both the onsite camping and demonstrating, as well as a huge traders area.

Maybe something along those lines would work ?

It means that the camping folks have a 'gated' campsite with a public face, while the trading area closes down entirely when the show closes in the evening. That lets the camping crowd chill out and do their own thing without being on public display, iimmc.

cheers,
M

 

[treetop57]

i haven't got a clue how much it cost to run the bushcraft show down in england but drumlanrig won't have to pay for the venue and if 300 bushcrafts camp for the long weekend at £80 a go that's £24000 then theres monies from trader types as i said before in derby there was traders //servivel schools came from kent i thought we had lots of schools here the lakes ie canoe school would not have to go all the way down to derby // when i went down two years ago ;there first one; ,,well a lot of the day visitors were not bushcrafts they just thought it would be interesting to go and see we all like Ray mears (don't we) and think we could be Bear
my question on my first post was "way is there not a scottish bushcraft show " i'm now starting to understand why /toddy wrote that the site had to have this and that not where so if Drumlanrig has this and that then thats it let's make it work don't lets see how we can make it not work /// and yes toddy i will play the national card because i'm english and i want a SCOTTISH BUSHCRAFT SHOW so let put our bushcraft mouth where our bushcraft money is and not turn in to a bushcraft shirt sawing club thank you and good bye

 

[Toddy]

Ehm, up front. I'm not paying £80 for a weekend camp.
Sorry, but that's not happening.

M

 

[Toddy]

Right, having read the rest of your post......Why is there not a Scottish Bushcraft Show ? because there hasn't been one organised.

It's not that it hasn't been discussed, ad nauseum, because it has.
The concensus is that it'll only work if it's tagged onto something else, such as a game fair or a major country show.
That said, from a personal point of view, I'm not prepared to turn my chill out time into yet another public demonstration; so I'm not one of the exhibits, I don't want to be 'Look at the bushcrafter', so to speak.

You're the one throwing the national bit around; most of the Scots think Drumlanrig is too far south. Windermere was a right royal pain in the neck to access; try to avoid that and it's a plus before you start.

Goodbye ? Rattle, pram.

M

 

[treetop57]

Ehm, up front. I'm not paying £80 for a weekend camp.
Sorry, but that's not happening.

M

thats how much it is to go camping down to derby for the bushcraft show for a long weekend

 

[treetop57]

thats how much it is to go camping down to derby for the bushcraft show for a long weekend

re quote that it's £95 this year not £80 as it was two years ago when i went

 

[Toddy]

I didn't camp over then either, and it's Scotland, we pay £9.50 at the weekend at Comriecroft, while twelve days at the Moot is only £160.

I know others pay for festivals and the like, but the bushcraft show is very, very, commercial. Pretty much every course adds on costs too.

If something goes ahead at Drumlanrig and it doesn't clash with anything, I would still come and visit (if the day fee isn't ridiculous and the weather looks good), I would really like to see a Scottish bushcraft show, but Drumlanrig is just too out of the way for a day trip unless things are in it's favour.

Best of luck with it, truly

cheers,
Toddy